A meeting of all Child Development Officers was held on Saturday under the chairmanship of Nashik Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Ashima Mittal. During the meeting, Mittal emphasised the importance of updating the profiles of severely malnourished children every month. She also suggested preparing an action plan for these children by coordinating with various departments to improve their weight. Additionally, she recommended that the training provided by IIT Mumbai should be imparted to all Anganwadi workers in the district through master trainers. These trained Anganwadi workers should then guide the parents of malnourished children on special breastfeeding methods and supplementary nutrition during home visits.
In the meeting, the success of the "chirping gathering" organised at Surgana in February was discussed. This initiative involved distributing chickens to severely and moderately malnourished children of Surgana taluka under the Animal Husbandry Department's Zilla Parishad SES Yojana. The aim was to provide malnourished children with protein-rich eggs through poultry farming and improve their health. Concurrently, parents of malnourished children were trained on effective breastfeeding techniques by IIT Mumbai.
The results of this initiative are now evident. Of the 34 severely malnourished children in Surgana taluka who received chickens, 21 have improved to the moderately malnourished category, and 13 have moved to the normal category. Therefore, this initiative, implemented by the Women and Child Development Department and the Animal Husbandry Department, has been successful.
District Programme Officer of the Women and Child Development Department, Pratap Patil, along with Child Development Project Officers from all projects, were present on this occasion.
